Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Berlin: Kreuzberg Bans Christmas

islamversuseurope.blogspot.nl / By Cheradenine Zakalwe / Tuesday, 3 September 2013
Recently, I wrote
about a ban on the use of Christian symbols in the public celebration
of Christmas in the German city of Solingen. Now the virus has spread to
Berlin.

As of now, Christmas is banned in Berlin’s
Kreuzberg – at least as far as celebration in public places is
concerned. Christmas is only allowed in the home, so that the religious
feelings of others are not injured.
No April Fool: the district
office of Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is doing away with Christmas.
The authorities are allowing no more Christmas celebrations in public
places or streets. A Christmas tree may only be set up in a central
location, allocated by the authorities in advance – so reports the
“Berliner Zeitung”. The ban on celebrations was decided by the Greens,
the Left and the Pirates. The SPD [Socialists] and CDU [Merkel's party,
mainstream right] were apparently against it.
The responsible city
councilman Peter Beckers (SPD) responded to protests against the ban on
the public celebration of Christmas to the BZ: “Why do religious
celebrations need to be celebrated in public?”
Background to the
Christmas ban: In August Muslims wanted to celebrate the end of Ramadan
on Berlin’s streets. There were complaints from locals worried about the
noise. The District Office made “short work” of these and immediately
banned all religious celebrations – including Christmas, on the grounds
of “equal treatment”.